Who’s lobbying for Uber

WHO’S LOBBYING FOR UBER IN WASHINGTON: The revelation that Uberhad hidden a massive data breach for more than a year and paid off the attackers is sure to put pressure on the company in Washington. Rep. Frank Pallone(D-N.J.), the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called today for Uber to testify before the committee. “If Uber did indeed secretly pay-off the hackers to keep the breach quiet, then a possible cover-up of the incident is problematic and must be investigated,” Pallone said in a statement.

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— Who are Uber’s Washington lobbyists, you ask? The company spent $510,000 in the third quarter, its highest-ever total, and retained eight firms: Ballard Partners; Capitol Tax Partners; Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell; the Doerrer Group; Invariant; Mayer Brown; Peck Madigan Jones; and Ulman Public Policy. (The Federal Hill Group also lobbied for Uber as a subcontractor to the Doerrer Group.)

— It’s not clear from disclosure filings whether any of Uber’s lobbyists worked on data security issues. Uber didn’t respond to a request for comment, and the lobbying firms it has on retainer either declined to comment or didn’t respond. Uber may decide to bolster its team in Washington if Congress does decide to hold hearings, though. When Congress hauled in Richard Smith, the former chief executive of Equifax, to testify last month after a massive data breach, Equifax brought on DLA Piper to help with the response. Former Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who’s now at DLA Piper but wasn’t listed on the Equifax lobbying registration, could be seen advising Smith as he testified.

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HOW TO MEET MULVANEY: “The quickest way to get access to [OMB Director Mick] Mulvaney appears to be to hire his former congressional chief of staff, Al Simpson, who joined the lobbying firm Mercury in February,” ProPublica’s Justin Elliott reports. “Simpson had seven meetings and a phone call with Mulvaney in a four-month period, between April and August. He appears on Mulvaney’s calendars more frequently than anyone who is not a current government official. Often, Simpson brought lobbying clients with him, including representatives from building materials giant Cemex; pharma firm AmerisourceBergen; and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.” Full story.

FEC LOOKING INTO ZINKE’S LEADERSHIP PAC: “The Federal Election Commission is asking a leadership PAC previously affiliated with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to provide more details about its direct mail spending and to account for a $200,000 discrepancy in its account, among other issues in its most recent campaign finance report,” POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre reports. “SEAL PAC, which Zinke launched after winning his first congressional race in 2014, has until Dec. 26 to address the issues identified by the FEC, according to a request sent Monday.” A POLITICO investigation last month revealed that SEAL PAC had “raised most of its money from small-dollar donors and funneled it back to a handful of political operatives” while Zinke was in Congress.” Full story.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: “Former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates are being sprung from home detention for the Thanksgiving holiday, but the decision highlights how negotiations over bail arrangements for the two men are dragging on much longer than anticipated,” POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports. “At a hearing on Nov. 6, a prosecutor from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, which is looking into Russian interference in the 2016 election, predicted that discussions about a bail package for Manafort would be wrapped up within 48 hours. ‘I think, for Mr. Manafort, we’re getting close,’ prosecutor Greg Andres told U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Yet three weeks after Manafort and Gates were arraigned and nearly two weeks after Andres laid out that timeline, there’s still no sign of a deal.” Full story.

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JOBS REPORT:

— Cassie Boehm will join the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America on Monday as manager of advocacy communications. She was previously communications director for Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.).

— Ashley O'Sullivan has joined AmerisourceBergen’s Washington office as manager of legislation. She was previously director of research at Roberti Global.

— America’s Future Foundation has tapped Cindy Cerquitella as its next executive director and Richard Lorenc as chairman of the board. Cerquitella previously worked for the Atlas Network. Lorenc will continue to serve as the chief operating officer of the Foundation for Economic Education.

About The Author : Theodoric Meyer

Theodoric Meyer covers lobbying for POLITICO and writes the POLITICO Influence newsletter. He previously covered the 2016 campaign for POLITICO and worked as a reporting fellow for ProPublica in New York. He was a lead reporter on ProPublica’s “After the Flood” series on the federal government’s troubled flood insurance program, which won the Deadline Club Award for Local Reporting. He’s a graduate of McGill University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.